Go Lean…Caribbean – Page 98 – Live, work, and play in the Caribbean? Let's make it better…together!

The World as 100 People – Showing the Gaps

Posted on July 18, 2014 in Ethos, Social

Go Lean Commentary

Blood, sweat and tears…

These are the triumvirate ingredients that forged many movements in the history of mankind.

Now comes the book Go Lean…Caribbean, serving as a roadmap for the introduction and implementation of the Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU) to elevate Caribbean society. This movement calls for a new triumvirate: time, talent and treasury, to effect change in the Caribbean region. The book posits that all Caribbean stakeholders (residents, institutions, students, Diaspora) have to devote a measure of these three ingredients.

But not a full measure… this is not war; this is social change…and philanthropy.

The Go Lean book asserts a roadmap for economic/security/governing empowerment; but it also clearly relates that many social aspects of Caribbean life will be un-addressed by the CU. There will be voids and gaps that NGO’s (Non-Government Organizations) are called on to fill. This accompanying chart shows the “World as 100 People”, a picturesque presentation of the significant categories of factors present (and absent) in the world “as a whole”:

Click on Image to Enlarge.

This chart was published by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, one of the NGO’s that the CU should solicit for Caribbean participation. This foundation was instituted by Information Technology Innovator and Microsoft founder Bill Gates. His foundation sets out to make a permanent impact on the world; guided by the belief that every life has equal value; this foundation works to help all people lead healthy, productive lives. The successful execution of this charter would fill the voids/gaps in the Caribbean social contract.

The Gates Foundation has a specific charter for education/libraries, health-advocacies, children, women, the elderly and the disabled. See the foundation Profile in the photo here.

The Go Lean roadmap invites NGO’s, like the Gates Foundation, to impact the Caribbean according to their charters. While forging change in the Caribbean is the responsibility of the Caribbean, we must be open to ask for help, to accept the help, and respond to the help being offered. This is a mission of the CU.

Under the Go Lean roadmap, the structure is put in place to include the contributions of the time, talent, and treasuries of NGOs/foundations. One feature of the Go Lean roadmap involves Self-Governing Entities (SGE’s); some of which may be structured as NGO’s. The following list details other community ethos, strategies, tactics, implementations and advocacies to optimize the region’s public/private cooperation and endeavors:

Community Ethos – Deferred Gratification	Page 21
Community Ethos – People Respond to Incentives in Predictable Ways	Page 21
Community Ethos – “Crap” Happens	Page 23
Community Ethos – Return on Investments	Page 24
Community Ethos – Cooperatives	Page 25
Community Ethos – Non-Government Organizations	Page 25
Community Ethos – Ways to Bridge the Digital Divide	Page 31
Community Ethos – Ways to Improve Sharing	Page 35
Community Ethos – Ways to Promote Happiness	Page 36
Community Ethos – Ways to Impact the Greater Good	Page 37
Strategy – Customers – Non-Government Organizations are Stakeholders	Page 48
Strategy – Competition – Attention to Caribbean as Opposed to Other 3^rd World	Page 56
Separation of Powers – State Department – Registrar/Liaison of NGO’s	Page 80
Implementation – Ways to Pay for Change	Page 101
Implementation – Ways to Implement Self-Government Entities	Page 105
Implementation – Ways to Deliver	Page 109
Implementation – Ways to Foster International Aid	Page 115
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Education	Page 159
Advocacy – Ways to Better Manage the Social Contract	Page 170
Advocacy – Ways to Foster Cooperatives	Page 176
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Libraries	Page 187
Advocacy – Ways to Impact Foundations	Page 219
Advocacy – Ways to Impact the One Percent	Page 224
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Elder-Care	Page 225
Advocacy – Ways to Impact Youth – Not-for-Profit Youth Fair Model	Page 227
Advocacy – Ways to Impact Persons with Disabilities	Page 228
Appendix – Giving Pledge Signatories – 113 Super Rich Benefactors	Page 292

The Go Lean book clearly depicts that Not-For-Profit charities, foundations and NGO’s are also stakeholders for the effort to make the Caribbean better. Many members of the “One Percent” want to help “change the world”; they want to give of their time, talent and treasuries. The CU will help facilitate their vision. This is win-win!

Welcome to the Caribbean, Mr. Gates et al. The Bill (and Melinda) Gates Foundation is one; the Go Lean book identifies 112 more billionaires and their “war chests”.

We will accept all genuine help to make the Caribbean a better place to live, work, learn, heal and play.

Download the book Go Lean … Caribbean – now!

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New Hope in the Fight against Alzheimer’s Disease

Posted on July 17, 2014 in Ethos, Planning

Go Lean Commentary

Be careful what you pray for. You just might be blessed with it.

This is the scenario to consider when campaigning to repatriate the Caribbean Diaspora. We just might succeed! And when we do, then we have to contend with the challenges of those blessings: the good, bad and ugly of the aging Diaspora.

Alzheimer’s disease is described as a “long goodbye”. It is one of those “challenges of blessings” that comes with an aging population.

Considering the attributes of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, this disease robs all three. But now, there is new hope, and some measurements for positive progress.

An eye exam that looks to detect plaque buildup in the brain is one of two new developments in the field of Alzheimer’s research.

These constitute New Hope. See VIDEO here:

NBC News Online Video – Retrieved 07-15-2014
http://www.nbcnews.com/nightly-news/new-hope-fight-against-alzheimers-disease-n155841

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is the most common form of dementia. There is no cure for the disease, which worsens as it progresses, and eventually leads to death. It was first described by German psychiatrist and neuro-pathologist Alois Alzheimer in 1906 and was named after him.^[a]Most often, AD is diagnosed in people over 65 years of age,^[b]although the less-prevalent early-onset Alzheimer’s can occur much earlier. In 2006, there were 26.6 million people worldwide with AD. Alzheimer’s is predicted to affect 1 in 85 people globally by 2050.^[c][d]

This subject matter aligns with the publication Go Lean … Caribbean, which serves as a roadmap for the introduction and implementation of the Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU). The Go Lean roadmap posits that expatriating to foreign lands should only ever be considered as a temporary measure. The book quotes (Page 144) the Bible examples of Jacob/Joseph emigrating to Egypt for refuge from the sever famine in their Promised Land of Canaan. Eventually the famine abated, and the Promised Land was “flowing with milk and honey” again. It was time to go home.

This situation parallels the Caribbean today. The region is arguable the best address on the planet. But so many of its citizens seek to flee because of the lack of economic opportunities. Something is clearly wrong, broken and must be fixed. The Go Lean roadmap specifies where we are as a region (with 70% brain drain among the college educated), where we want to go (elevation of Caribbean society in the homeland for all citizens to return and enjoy) and how we plan to get there. While the Go Lean book strategizes a roadmap for economic empowerment, it clearly relates that healthcare, disease management, and medicines are germane to the Caribbean quest for health, wealth and happiness. At the outset of the Go Lean book, in the Declaration of Interdependence (Page 10 & 11 respectively), these points are pronounced:

Preamble: And while our rights to exercise good governance and promote a more perfect society are the natural assumptions among the powers of the earth, no one other than ourselves can be held accountable for our failure to succeed if we do not try to promote the opportunities that a democratic society fosters.

ix. Whereas the realities of healthcare and an aging population cannot be ignored and cannot be afforded without some advanced mitigation, the Federation must arrange for health plans to consolidate premiums of both healthy and sickly people across the wider base of the entire Caribbean population. The mitigation should extend further to disease management, wellness, obesity and smoking cessation programs. The Federation must proactively anticipate the demand and supply of organ transplantation as developing countries are often exploited by richer neighbors for illicit organ trade.

Alzheimer is pandemic, with the projections of 1 in 85 people globally by 2050. This scourge was not the motivation for composing the book Go Lean … Caribbean, but rather the bigger goal of elevating Caribbean society. The Caribbean Union Trade Federation has the prime directive of optimizing the economic, security and governing engines of the region. The foregoing article/VIDEO depicts the benefits that can emerge as a result of innovation in science, technology, engineering and medicine (STEM).

Under the Go Lean roadmap, these types of developments will also emerge from the Caribbean. The following list details the strategies, tactics, implementations and advocacies to optimize the region’s health deliveries:

Community Ethos – Cooperatives	Page 25
Community Ethos – Non-Government Organizations	Page 25
Community Ethos – Ways to Impact Research & Development (R&D)	Page 30
Community Ethos – Ways to Impact the Greater Good	Page 37
Separation of Powers – Patent, Standards & Copyrights Office	Page 78
Separation of Powers – Health Department	Page 86
Separation of Powers – Drug Administration	Page 87
Implementation – Ways to Pay for Change	Page 101
Implementation – Ways to Implement Self-Government Entities	Page 105
Implementation – Ways to Deliver	Page 109
Implementation – Trade Mission Objectives – Diaspora Outreach	Page 116
Implementation – Reasons to Repatriate	Page 118
Implementation – Ways to Benefit from Globalization	Page 119
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Healthcare	Page 156
Advocacy – Ways to Impact Cancer	Page 157
Advocacy – Ways to Impact Entitlements	Page 158
Advocacy – Ways to Better Manage the Social Contract	Page 170
Advocacy – Ways Foster Cooperatives	Page 176
Advocacy – Ways to Impact Foundations	Page 219
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Elder-Care	Page 225
Advocacy – Ways to Impact Persons with Disabilities	Page 228
Appendix – Healthways Model – Disease Management	Page 300

While dementia has been a constant among the elderly from the dawn of time, it does appear to be that Alzheimer’s disease is more prevalent today. Some studies have shown an increased risk of developing AD with environmental factors such as the intake of metals, particularly aluminum.^[e] The quality of some of these studies has been criticized^[f] and other studies have concluded that there is no relationship between these environmental factors and the development of AD.^[g] Other studies suggest that extremely low frequency electromagnetic fields may also increase the risk for AD ^[h], but reviewers found that further epidemiological and laboratory investigations of this hypothesis are needed.^[i] Smoking is undoubtedly a significant AD risk factor.^[j] Lastly, systemic markers of the innate immune system are identified as risk factors for late-onset AD.

These questions/statements demonstrate that there is a need for more R&D on Alzheimer’s disease. Progress can emerge from anywhere around the world. In fact, the reports in the foregoing VIDEO depicted medical innovations fostered in the country of Finland. These innovations could easily have come from the Caribbean as well – for example, Cuba currently performs a lot of R&D into cancer, diabetes and other ailments. The Go Lean roadmap posits that more innovations will emerge as a direct result of the CU prioritization on science, technology, engineering and medical activities on Caribbean R&D campuses and educational institutions.

This is the heavy-lifting that the CU is designed to bear, with investments made in R&D. Such investments are designed to benefit those who suffer from AD and the many caregivers who love them. This then is serving the Greater Good.

Download the book Go Lean … Caribbean – now!

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Photo Credit: The Alzheimer’s Association … for care, support and research – http://www.alz.org/

References:

a. Berchtold NC, Cotman CW. Evolution in the Conceptualization of Dementia and Alzheimer’s Disease: Greco-Roman Period to the 1960s. Neurobiology of Aging. 1998; Volume 19 Number 3; Pages 173–89.

b. Brookmeyer R, Gray S, Kawas C. Projections of Alzheimer’s Disease in the United States and the Public Health Impact of Delaying Disease Onset. American Journal of Public Health. (1998) Volume 88 Number 9. Pages 1337–42. Retrieved from: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1509089/

c. Brookmeyer R, Johnson E, Ziegler-Graham K, Arrighi HM. Forecasting the global burden of Alzheimer’s disease. Alzheimer’s & Dementia. 2007 Volume 3 Number 3; Pages186 – 91. Retrieved 18 June 2008 from: http://works.bepress.com/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1022&context=rbrookmeyer

d. 2007 Report retrieved 27 August 2008 from: http://un.org/esa/population/publications/wpp2006/WPP2006_Highlights_rev.pdf.

e. Shcherbatykh I, Carpenter DO. The Role of Metals in the Etiology of Alzheimer’s Disease. Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease. 2007;11(2):191–205. PMID 17522444.

f. Santibáñez M, Bolumar F, García AM. Occupational Risk Factors in Alzheimer’s Disease: A Review Assessing the Quality of Published Epidemiological Studies. Occupational and Environmental Medicine. 2007;64(11):723–732. doi:10.1136/oem.2006.028209. PMID 17525096.

g. Rondeau V. A Review of Epidemiologic Studies on Aluminum and Silica in Relation to Alzheimer’s Disease and Associated Disorders. Reviews on Environmental Health. 2002;17(2):107–21. doi:10.1515/REVEH.2002.17.2.107. PMID 12222737.

h. Kheifets L, Bowman JD, Checkoway H, Feychting M, Harrington JM, Kavet R, Marsh G, Mezei G, Renew DC, van Wijngaarden E. Future needs of occupational epidemiology of extremely low frequency electric and magnetic fields: review and recommendations. Occupational and Environmental Medicine. February 2009. Volume 66 Number 2. Pages 72–80.

i. Scientific Committee on Emerging and Newly Identified Health Risks (SCENIHR). Health Effects of Exposure to EMF. January 2009 Retrieved 27 April 2010 (Page 4–5) from: http://ec.europa.eu/health/ph_risk/committees/04_scenihr/docs/scenihr_o_022.pdf

j. Cataldo JK, Prochaska JJ, Glantz SA. Cigarette smoking is a risk factor for Alzheimer’s disease: An analysis controlling for tobacco industry affiliation. Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease. 2010; Volume 19 Number 2: Pages 465–80.

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Google and Novartis to develop ‘smart’ contact lens

Posted on July 17, 2014 in Economics, Social

Go Lean Commentary

This foregoing article presses the point about innovation in diabetes care and maintenance – qualifying the great need that we have in the Caribbean.

By: Caroline Copley, Kate Kelland in London and by Katharina Bart and Paul Arnold in Zurich

ZURICH (Reuters) – Swiss drug-maker Novartis has struck an agreement with Google to develop “smart” contact lenses that would help diabetics track their blood glucose levels or restore the eye’s ability to focus.

The device for diabetics would measure glucose in tear fluid and send the data wirelessly to a mobile device, Novartis said. The technology is potentially life-changing for many diabetics, who prick their fingers as many as 10 times daily to check their body’s production of the sugar.

Success would allow Novartis to compete in a global blood-sugar tracking market that is expected to be worth over $12 billion by 2017, according to research firm GlobalData. Diabetes afflicts an estimated 382 million people worldwide.

The second approach is for presbyopia, in which aging eyes have trouble focusing on close objects. Novartis hopes the lens technology will help restore the eye’s ability to focus, almost like the autofocus on a camera.

Non-invasive sensors, microchips and other miniaturized electronics would be embedded into the contact lenses.

Under the deal with Google, Novartis’s Alcon eye-care unit will further develop and commercialize the lens technologies designed by Google[x], the American company’s development team.

Financial details were not disclosed.

The alliance comes as drug-makers explore ways for technology to reshape healthcare, helping patients monitor their own health and lowering the costs of managing chronic diseases.

In turn, technology firms such as Apple Inc, Samsung Electronics Co and Google are trying to find health-related applications for wearable devices.

Novartis Chief Executive Joe Jimenez said he hoped a product could be on the market in about five years’ time.

“This really brings high-technology and combines it with biology and that’s a very exciting combination for us,” Jimenez told Reuters.

“I think you’re going to see more and more areas of unmet medical need where companies like Novartis are going to take a non-traditional approach to addressing those unmet needs.”

Although the licensing deal is just for the eye, Jimenez said the drug-maker was also thinking about how technology could be applied in other areas, such as remote patient monitoring in heart failure.
Reuters News Wire (Retrieved 07-15-2014) –
http://news.yahoo.com/novartis-hopes-commercialise-smart-lens-within-five-years-091941956–finance.html

There is a high rate of occurrence of diabetes in the Caribbean region – it is one of the primary causes of death – one in five people are afflicted. This is a crisis, and a crisis is a terrible thing to waste! This is the declaration of the book Go Lean…Caribbean.

There is also a race to create technological solutions in response to dealing with this crisis. This book’s assertion is that innovations will spurn new economic activity.

While the Go Lean book is not a Medical Journal, (see Medical Journal Article Summary below^[Appendix]), it does advocate for a culture of innovation and a solution-minded focus. This is described in the book as community ethos. The book then strategizes a roadmap for economic empowerment, it clearly relates that healthcare and disease management are germane to the Caribbean quest for health, wealth and happiness.

This book purports that a new industrial revolution is emerging in which the Caribbean people and society must engage. This is pronounced at the outset of the Go Lean book in the Declaration of Interdependence (Pages 12 & 14), with these opening statements:

ix. Whereas the realities of healthcare and an aging population cannot be ignored and cannot be afforded without some advanced mitigation, the Federation must arrange for health plans to consolidate premiums of both healthy and sickly people across the wider base of the entire Caribbean population. The mitigation should extend further to disease management, wellness, obesity and smoking cessation programs.

xxvii. Whereas the region has endured a spectator status during the Industrial Revolution, we cannot stand on the sidelines of this new economy, the Information Revolution. Rather, the Federation must embrace all the tenets of Internet Communications Technology (ICT) to serve as an equalizing element in competition with the rest of the world. The Federation must bridge the digital divide and promote the community ethos that research/development is valuable and must be promoted and incentivized for adoption.

This book Go Lean… Caribbean, serves as a roadmap for the introduction and implementation of the technocratic Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU). This effort will marshal the region to avail the opportunities associated with technology and healthcare. There is the need to better care for our citizens and a plan to foster a local disease management industry, so that we may invite the aging Diaspora back to their ancestral homelands. In fact The CU/Go Lean roadmap has these 3 prime directives:

Optimization of the economic engines in order to grow the regional economy.
Establishment of a security apparatus to protect the resultant economic engines.
Improve Caribbean governance to support these engines.

There is a lot at stake for the Caribbean in considering this subject area. According to the foregoing article diabetes afflicts an estimated 382 million people worldwide. Those who live-work-and-play in the Caribbean have crossed paths with many afflicted ones. Many of these are loved ones (young and old) and we would want to do anything/everything to help them. The Go Lean book dictates that an “anything/everything” attitude should be reflected in our Research-and-Development community ethos. In a previous blog entry (https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=554 “Cuban cancer/diabetes medication registered in 28 countries”), some great R&D progress from Cuba was highlighted. We are urged to do more than just mourn the passing of our loved ones, but also foster the climate, environment and atmosphere to forge change in healthcare deliveries. Engaging this ethos early can result in many new jobs, and most importantly, many new opportunities to save lives and impact the Greater Good.

The book details other ethos to adopt, plus the executions of the following strategies, tactics, implementations and advocacies to forge research-and-development and industrial growth in Caribbean communities:

Community Ethos – Deferred Gratification	Page 21
Community Ethos – People Respond to Incentives	Page 21
Community Ethos – Job Multiplier	Page 22
Community Ethos – “Crap” Happens	Page 23
Community Ethos – Lean Operations	Page 24
Community Ethos – Return on Investments (ROI)	Page 24
Community Ethos – Ways to Impact the Future	Page 26
Community Ethos – Ways to Help Entrepreneurship	Page 28
Community Ethos – Ways to Impact Research & Development	Page 30
Community Ethos – Impact the Greater Good	Page 37
Strategy – Agents of Change – Technology	Page 57
Strategy – Agents of Change – Aging Diaspora	Page 57
Tactical – Fostering a Technocracy	Page 64
Tactical – Growing Economy – New High Multiplier Industries	Page 68
Separation of Powers – Patent, Standards, & Copyrights Office	Page 82
Separation of Powers – Health Department	Page 86
Separation of Powers – Drug [and Medical Devices] Administration	Page 87
Implementation – Ways to Pay for Change	Page 101
Ways to Implement Self-Government Entities	Page 105
Implementation – Ways to Deliver	Page 109
Advocacy – Ways to Grow the Economy	Page 151
Advocacy – Ways to Create Jobs	Page 152
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Healthcare	Page 156
Advocacy – Ways to Impact Entitlements	Page 158
Advocacy – Ways to Foster Technology	Page 197
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Elder-Care	Page 225
Appendix – Healthways Model – Disease Management	Page 300

Historically, the Caribbean is quick to adapt to technological ubiquity – cable TV, internet and mobile phones proliferate in the region. But this is only true for consumption, not creation. So the management of change in the Caribbean now must include the attitude that we must also “contribute a verse” to the ongoing stage play that is modern life.

Some communities in the Caribbean have started, like Cuba discussed in the previously cited blog.

We now entreat the rest of the Caribbean to join in, to lean-in.

Download the book Go Lean…Caribbean now!

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APPENDIX – Medical Journal Article Summary: Diabetes in a Caribbean population: epidemiological profile and implications

By: Anselm Hennis^[a][b][c], Suh-Yuh Wu^[c], Barbara Nemesure^[c], Xiaowei Li^[c], M Cristina Leske^[c] and for The Barbados Eye Studies Group^[b][c][d],

Published: International Journal of Epidemiology (2002) Volume 31 – 01

Accepted: July 11, 2001.

Objective: To examine the distribution and impact of diabetes, glycaemic status, and related factors, in a predominantly black adult Caribbean population.

Methods: The study included 4709 people, or 84% of a simple random sample of Barbadian-born citizens aged 40–84 years, examined between 1988 and 1992 and re-assessed 4 years later. Diabetes was evaluated according to physician-diagnosis and glycosylated haemoglobin (GHb). Associations were assessed by logistic regression analyses, cumulative mortality by product-limit methods and death-rate ratios by Cox proportional hazards regression.

Results: Among the 4314 black participants, the prevalence of known diabetes, predominantly type 2, was 9.1% at 40–49 years of age and increased to 24.0% at 70–79 years. The overall prevalence was 17.5%, while it was 12.5% in mixed (black/ white; n = 184) and 6.0% in white/other participants (n = 133), only 0.3% had younger-onset. Additionally, 2% had GHb >10% (>2 SD over the mean) without diabetes history. Sulphonylureas were the most frequent treatment, while insulin use was infrequent. In black participants, diabetes was positively associated with age (OR = 1.03 per year; 95% CI : 1.02–1.04), diabetes family history (OR = 2.85, 95% CI : 2.39–3.40), hypertension (OR = 1.71, 95% CI : 1.42–2.05), obesity (BMI ≥25 kg/m2; OR = 1.74, 95% CI : 1.44–2.10), and high waist-hip ratio (WHR ≥0.92; OR = 1.29, 95% CI : 1.09–1.53). Ocular co-morbidities were increased among people with diabetes, as was 4-year-mortality (death rate ratio = 1.42, 95% CI : 1.10–1.83). There was a 9% increase in mortality for each 1% increase in GHb (death rate ratio = 1.09, 95% CI : 1.04–1.15).

Conclusions: A markedly high prevalence of diabetes existed in the adult black population, affecting almost one in five people and increasing morbidity and mortality. Prevention strategies are urgently needed to reduce the adverse implications of diabetes in this and similar populations.

Download the entire Medical Journal article here: http://ije.oxfordjournals.org/content/31/1/234.full.pdf+html

Citation Sources:

a. School of Clinical Medicine & Research, University of the West Indies.

b. Ministry of Health, Barbados, West Indies.

c. University Medical Center at Stony Brook, Stony Brook, NY, USA.

M Cristina Leske, Department of Preventive Medicine, University Medical Center at Stony Brook, HSC L3 086, Stony Brook, NY 11794–8036, USA. E-mail: cleske@notes.cc.sunysb.edu

d. The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA.

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Role Model Warren Buffet – An Ode to Omaha

Posted on July 16, 2014 in Ethos, Planning

Go Lean Commentary

This book Go Lean…Caribbean was written in Omaha, Nebraska. The timeframe of being in this Mid-Western American city has now come to an end.

The Great Recession is now over… from the experience of enduring the crisis. It is now only the paperwork that needs to be completed. The paperwork is the Go Lean book: a composition of lessons learned and a roadmap to effectuate change based on the lessons.

What is so special about Omaha?

Well, one thing: The Oracle of Omaha…

… Warren Buffet.

The foregoing article/photo highlights the adoration that the community has for Mr. Buffett.

By: Lance Ulanoff

Title: Nebraska Kid Takes Selfie With Paul McCartney and Warren Buffett

Sixteen-year-old Tom White of Omaha, Nebraska, stumbled upon a scene that could only happen in the movies or a New Yorker cartoon: Paul McCartney and Billionaire Warren Buffett sitting on a bench. He did what comes naturally to his generation: took a selfie.

McCartney, who recently recovered from a hospital stay is back on the road, with a touring stop in Lincoln, Nebraska on July 14. The photo was taken on the evening of July 13.

Buffett lives in Omaha, and the bench break apparently came as part of a lengthy evening of dinner and ice cream, according to Omaha.com. In fact, White’s photo is just one of many captured by Omaha locals as McCartney and Buffett did an eatery crawl through the Dundee section of Omaha.
Mashable.com Social Media Site (Retrieved 07/15/2014) – http://mashable.com/2014/07/14/nebraska-selfie-warren-buffet-paul-mccartney/?utm_cid=mash-prod-email-topstories&utm_emailalert=daily&utm_content=buffer75200&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer

Why is Warren Buffett such a great role model for consideration, especially for the Caribbean to emulate?

His entrepreneurship. His commitment to community. His concern for the Greater Good.

Warren Buffet is a good example/sample of someone who prospered where he is planted.

He was born in Omaha, Nebraska (1930), raised and educated there, attending the University of Nebraska. Now as one of the richest men in the world, (# 1 on the Forbes List for 2008 and # 3 since 2011), he has the resources to live anywhere in world. But he chooses to prosper right here in Omaha, where he is planted. Mr. Buffet is widely considered the most successful investor of the 20th century. He is called the “Wizard of Omaha”, “Oracle of Omaha”, or the “Sage of Omaha” and is noted for his adherence to the “value investing”^[a] philosophy and for his personal frugality despite his immense wealth (See photo of his home). Mr. Buffett is also a notable philanthropist, having pledged to give away 99 percent of his fortune to philanthropic causes, primarily via the Gates Foundation.

In 2012, American magazine Time named Mr. Buffett one of the most influential people in the world.

On April 11, 2012, he was diagnosed with prostate cancer, for which he successfully completed treatment in September 2012.

Despite his great wealth, power, and influence, Mr. Buffett is very much human, and humane. His capacity for charity is as compelling as his wealth generating prowess.

Many of the lessons/insights from the role model Warren Buffet and the community of Omaha align with the book Go Lean… Caribbean. The primary focus of this book is the introduction and implementation of the technocratic Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU). The following 3 prime directives of the CU are explored in full details:

Optimization of the economic engines in order to grow the regional economy to $800 Billion & create 2.2 million new jobs.
Establishment of a security apparatus to protect the resultant economic engines.
Improve Caribbean governance to support these engines.

While the Great Recession may be over in Omaha in specific and the US in general, the effects continue to linger in the Caribbean. The Go Lean book serves as a roadmap for the CU. This commences with the assessment that the Caribbean is still very much in crisis, and that this “crisis would be a terrible thing to waste”. As a planning tool, the book goes on to detail lessons learned from the 2008 Crisis (Page 136) and the City of Omaha (Page 138). This roadmap accepts that the problems of the Caribbean are too big for any one member-state to effect change alone, but rather there should be an interdependent solution. This point is detailed in the Declaration of Interdependence at the outset of the book, pronouncing this need for regional solutions (Page 10):

When, in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to unite with others so as to connect them together to collaborate, confederate and champion the challenges that face them, we the people of Caribbean democracies find it necessary to accede and form a confederated Union, the Caribbean Union Trade Federation, with our geographic neighbors of common interest.

The Go Lean strategy is to confederate all the 30 member-states of the Caribbean (Page 44), despite their language and legacy, into an integrated “single market”. Tactically, this will allow a separation-of-powers (Page 71) between the member-states governments and federal agencies, allowing for efficient economies-of-scale for delivering the benefits of a technocracy to the region.

This is the example of Omaha, personified!

It was practical, providential and inspirational to write this book in this city; see VIDEO here:

The metropolitan area of Omaha had been prominently featured in previous blog considerations:

https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=1341	Blog Number 100: College World Series Time
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=740	Foreign Mission Offices – Why not … a profit center?
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=273	10 Things We Want from the US and 10 Things We Don’t Want from the US

Now is the time for all of the Caribbean to lean-in for the empowerments described in the book Go Lean…Caribbean. There are benefits for all to consider in reviewing all aspects of the metropolitan area of Omaha: people, students, patients, governance, institutions and community organizations. These are all a part of the eco-systems of society. So from Omaha’s society, it is time now to apply the benefits in Caribbean society.

The methodology of this assignment was to look, listen, learn, lend-a-hand, and then finally: lead!

The Omaha assignment is now complete! Now the publishers are moving on, back to the Caribbean.

Time to lead!

Download the free e-Book of Go Lean … Caribbean – now!

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Referenced Citation:

a. Value investing is an investment paradigm that derives from the ideas on investment that Ben Graham and David Dodd began teaching at Columbia Business School in 1928 and subsequently developed in their 1934 text Security Analysis. Although value investing has taken many forms since its inception, it generally involves buying securities that appear under-priced by some form of fundamental analysis. As examples, such securities may be stock in public companies that trade at discounts to book value or tangible book value, have high dividend yields, have low price-to-earnings multiples or have low price-to-book ratios.

High-profile proponents of value investing, including Berkshire Hathaway chairman Warren Buffett, have argued that the essence of value investing is buying stocks at less than their intrinsic value. The discount of the market price to the intrinsic value is what Benjamin Graham called the “margin of safety”. The intrinsic value is the discounted value of all future distributions. However, the future distributions and the appropriate discount rate can only be assumptions. (Graham never recommended using future numbers, only past ones). For the last 25 years, Warren Buffett has taken the value investing concept even further with a focus on “finding an outstanding company at a sensible price” rather than generic companies at a bargain price.

Source: Retrieved July 15, 2014 from; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Value_investing

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Lebronomy – Economic Impact of the Return of the NBA Great

Posted on July 15, 2014 in Economics, Industries, Social

Go Lean Commentary

The commentaries of the Go Lean…Caribbean blogs have often addressed sports issues. But mostly from the point-of-view as the business of sports, and its impact on the communities’ economic engines.

This commentary continues that pattern, plus it couples one more assignment: Mea Culpa.

We were wrong! The publishers of the Go Lean book (dated November 2013) included an anecdote on the Miami Heat (Page 42), stressing the “Not one, not two, not three, not four…” quotation from superstar free agent LeBron James when he joined the team in 2010. The Mea Culpa, (Latin verbiage for “My Bad”), obviously applies in that, there would only be 2 championships. Everything else of that anecdote applies, but a technocratic approach, different than previous Caribbean administrations, requires that we learn lessons from successes and failures. Already this commentary has congratulated the 2014 winner of the NBA Finals, San Antonio Spurs, who went on to beat the Miami Heat; as follows:

https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=1508

St Croix’s Tim Duncan to Return to Spurs For Another Season

What are the lessons that we learn from our failure to prognosticate the winning basketball team? Number one: Don’t bet!

The Bible words are correct: “Time and unforeseen occurrences befall us all” (Ecclesiastes 9:11). That’s what we got wrong, but what we got right is so much more impactful, the economic impact of sports on the local community:

By: ABC News

Title: Lebronomy: Economic Impact of the Return of NBA Great LeBron James

A ticket to the Cleveland Cavalier’s season opener used to go for $40, now goes for as much as $600.

Yahoo Video Sharing Site (Retrieved 07/14/2014) –
http://news.yahoo.com/video/lebronomy-economic-impact-return-nba-030818278.html

This discussion of sports and the basketball team in Cleveland is not just academic. Community pride, jobs, and the growth of the regional economy is involved; the foregoing VIDEO summarized that LeBron James’ absence was worth $50 million a season for this metropolitan area. This point aligns with the objections of the book Go Lean…Caribbean. This book serves as a roadmap for the introduction and implementation of the technocratic Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU). This effort harnessed the individual abilities so as to elevate the athletes (micro) and also economic impact for their related communities (macros). Modern sports cannot be analyzed without considering the impact on “dollars and cents” for the community. In his essay to the people of Cleveland, announcing his return, after taking his talents to South Beach, this was the exact point LeBron James made:

“My relationship with Northeast Ohio is bigger than basketball. I didn’t realize that four years ago. I do now.”

“Before anyone ever cared where I would play basketball, I was a kid from Northeast Ohio. It’s where I walked,” James told SI (Sports Illustrated). “It’s where I ran. It’s where I cried. It’s where I bled. It holds a special place in my heart. People there have seen me grow up. I sometimes feel like I’m their son. Their passion can be overwhelming. But it drives me.

“I want to give them hope when I can. I want to inspire them when I can.”
(http://www.journalgazette.net/article/20140711/SPORTS20/140719891/-1/sports12)

These words in this eloquently written essay could have been concurred by so many of the Caribbean Diaspora that had taken their talents to “South Beach, South Toronto or South London”. The economic impact of their absence has been duly noted in research and analysis and the conclusion is bad:

https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=1433

Caribbean loses over 70% of tertiary educated citizens to the brain drain

The Go Lean roadmap attempts to impact change in the region, by elevating Caribbean society. The CU, using all the economic benefit that can be derived from sports in the region, will pursue a charter that is bigger than basketball, football, baseball or any other sport. Rather the CU will employ strategies, tactics and implementations to impact its prime directives; identified with the following 3 statements:

Optimization of the economic engines in order to grow the regional economy to $800 Billion & create 2.2 million new jobs.
Establishment of a security apparatus to protect the resultant economic engines.
Improve Caribbean governance to support these engines.

The Go Lean book identified this vision early in the book (Page 13 & 14) in the following pronouncements in the Declaration of Interdependence:

xix.   Whereas our legacy in recent times is one of societal abandonment, it is imperative that incentives and encouragement be put in place to first dissuade the human flight, and then entice and welcome the return of our Diaspora back to our shores…

xxi.   Whereas the preparation of our labor force can foster opportunities and dictate economic progress for current and future generations, the Federation must ensure that educational and job training opportunities are fully optimized for all residents of all member-states, with no partiality towards any gender or ethnic group. The Federation must recognize and facilitate excellence in many different fields of endeavor, including sciences, languages, arts, music and sports. This responsibility should be executed without incurring the risks of further human flight, as has been the past history.

xxxi.   Whereas sports have been a source of great pride for the Caribbean region, the economic returns from these ventures have not been evenly distributed as in other societies. The Federation must therefore facilitate the eco-systems and vertical industries of sports as a business, recreation, national pastime and even sports tourism – modeling the Olympics.

Now is the time for all of the Caribbean to lean-in to the following community ethos, strategies, tactics, implementations and advocacies detailed in the book Go Lean … Caribbean to foster the elevation and industrialization of sports in the Caribbean region:

Community Ethos – People Respond to Incentives in Predictable Ways	Page 21
Community Ethos – Return on Investments	Page 24
Community Ethos – Ways to Foster Genius	Page 27
Community Ethos – Ways to Promote Happiness	Page 36
Community Ethos – Ways to Impact the Greater Good	Page 37
Strategic – Vision – Integrating Region in to a Single Market	Page 45
Strategic – Staffing – Sporting Events at Fairgrounds	Page 55
Tactical – Fostering a Technocracy	Page 64
Tactical – Separation of Powers – Sports & Culture Administration	Page 81
Tactical – Separation of Powers – Fairgrounds Administration	Page 83
Implementation – Steps to Implement Self-Governing Entities (Fairgrounds)	Page 105
Implementation – Ways to Deliver	Page 109
Planning – 10 Big Ideas for the Caribbean Region	Page 127
Planning – Ways to Make the Caribbean Better	Page 131
Advocacy – Ways to Grow the Economy	Page 151
Advocacy – Ways to Create Jobs	Page 152
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Local Government – Parks & Recreation	Page 169
Advocacy – Ways to Impact Events	Page 191
Advocacy – Ways to Promote Fairgrounds	Page 192
Advocacy – Ways to Foster Technology Expositions	Page 197
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Sports	Page 229
Advocacy – Ways to Impact Urban Living – Sports Leagues	Page 234

Now is the time for all of the Caribbean, the people and governing institutions, to lean-in for the empowerments described in the book Go Lean…Caribbean. This is a big deal for regional sports. This book provides the turn-by-turn directions for how to get from Point A, where we can only hope and dream about foreign sports stars, to Point B, where we can finally celebrate our own sports stars.

Download the book Go Lean … Caribbean – now!

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STEM Jobs Are Filling Slowly

Posted on July 12, 2014 in Economics, Ethos, Government

Go Lean Commentary

Here comes more “pull pressure” on the Caribbean work force.

According to the foregoing article, there is a greater demand for STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) workers in the United States. According to US Government immigration policies, employers can search outside the borders to find job applicants to fill roles that are hard to place. This constitutes additional demand for individuals in the Caribbean work force with this skill-set to avail themselves of opportunities in the US. This article depicted here, constitutes an additional “pull” factor:

By: Justin Kim
Money Economics – Finance e-Zine (Posted 07/01/2014; Retrieved 07/11/2014 from:
http://www.moneyeconomics.com/headlines/stem-jobs-are-filling-slowly/

According to a new study by Brookings Institution, there is a clear evidence of a skills gap in the US. The report stated that a high school graduate with a Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) background seems to be in higher demand than a person with an undergraduate degree not in a STEM background. The study looked at all job openings which were advertised on the companies’ websites totaling 52,000 companies in Q1 2013. Jobs in healthcare sector that require technical skills such as positions for doctors, nurses, and radiologists, filled at the slowest rate. To fill those jobs, the advertisement lasted an average of 47 days with the next being architectural and engineering openings that took an average of 41 days to fill. Computer and math jobs did relatively better in 39 days. On the other hand, jobs that do necessarily require higher education—installation, maintenance and repair—were filled more rapidly as the opening averaged 33 days of advertisement. Some of the fastest-filling jobs were office and administrative support, manufacturing, and construction type of jobs that took about 24 to 28 days to fill up. The study also breaks down the rate into different geographic regions and showed that jobs in San Francisco and San Jose, right in the vicinity of Silicon Valley, were the hardest to fill.

This graph depicts the percentage of jobs that remain unfilled after a month of advertising in the major sectors. It displays the skill gap in which healthcare and STEM sectors have a much harder time filling their positions than construction, production, transport, repair as well as public service sectors. Some analysts have argued in the past that due to the skill gap, the unemployment rate will be slow to fall. The author states that such gap will increase as this survey results show earnings and unemployment rate for STEM and non-STEM workers will be enlarged.

The book Go Lean…Caribbean posits that the reasons why the Caribbean brain drain is so acute, reported at exceeding 70%, are “push and pull” factors. That North American, and European countries can appeal to Caribbean educated workers more enticingly that their homeland. This is the pull factor. In addition the economic, security and governing deficiencies in the Caribbean “push” the native workers to consider expatriating. This can be likened to casting a ballot. The well-educated, skilled STEM worker in the Caribbean can simply choose to vote for “none of the above”; they vote with their feet and their wallet and simply flee the region. Today, that pace is 70%. Since the Caribbean has its own needs for the STEM work force, these numbers cannot be ignored.

The Caribbean is in crisis. The book Go Lean…Caribbean serves as a roadmap for the introduction and implementation of the technocratic Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU). The roadmap declares that a crisis is a terrible thing to waste, and thus will respond to minimize “push” factors while also creating more competitive environments to dampen the pull factors.

The roadmap, in total will elevate Caribbean society. The prime directives of the CU are presented as the following 3 statements:

Optimization of the economic engines in order to grow the regional economy to $800 Billion & create 2.2 million new jobs.
Establishment of a security apparatus to protect the resultant economic engines.
Improve Caribbean governance to support these engines.

The book posits that all of the Caribbean is in crisis with this brain drain problem, while at the same time we have the same urgent need for STEM talent. This point is stressed early in the book (Page 13) in the following pronouncements in the Declaration of Interdependence:

xix. Whereas our legacy in recent times is one of societal abandonment, it is imperative that incentives and encouragement be put in place to first dissuade the human flight, and then entice and welcome the return of our Diaspora back to our shores. This repatriation should be effected with the appropriate guards so as not to imperil the lives and securities of the repatriated citizens or the communities they inhabit. The right of repatriation is to be extended to any natural born citizens despite any previous naturalization to foreign sovereignties.

xxi. Whereas the preparation of our labor force can foster opportunities and dictate economic progress for current and future generations, the Federation must ensure that educational and job training opportunities are fully optimized for all residents of all member-states, with no partiality towards any gender or ethnic group. The Federation must recognize and facilitate excellence in many different fields of endeavor, including sciences, languages, arts, music and sports. This responsibility should be executed without incurring the risks of further human flight, as has been the past history.

This blog relates to the challenge of mitigating the brain drain. This has been a frequent topic for these Go Lean blogs, highlighted here in the following samples:

a.	https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=1683	Caribbean Diaspora subject to ‘poverty pay’ in Britain
b.	https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=1674	Obama’s Plans for $3.7 Billion Immigration Crisis Funds, stressing the need for reform in the US.
c.	https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=1596	Book Review: ‘Prosper Where You Are Planted’ – the antithesis of emigration
d.	https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=1470	College of the Bahamas Master Plan 2025 – Lacking response for brain drain
e.	https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=1433	Caribbean loses more than 70 percent of tertiary educated to brain drain
f.	https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=1296	Remittances from Diaspora to Caribbean Increased By 3 Percent in 2013
g.	https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=1256	Is a Traditional 4-year College Degree a Terrible Investment? Yes, for Caribbean students studying abroad.

The Go Lean roadmap is based on sound economic principles, of which a basic concept is supply-and-demand. For the US, according to the foregoing article, there are more demand than supply for STEM workers, In the past, demand-supply gaps have been filled with a liberal immigration policy, but there is no stomach for that in today’s political climate. So the family re-unification approach is the likely strategy to be employed imminently – ethnicities with larger immigrant populations already in the US will have an advantage but their homelands will have more brain drain.

This is the premise for this commentary, that more pressure will be created for Caribbean citizens with STEM skill-sets to consider relocation, by connecting with their vibrant diaspora and family members for applying for entry into the US.

This means war.

Actually, war has already ensued; this issue is just the latest battle in this trade war.

To assuage these fears, and counteract the Caribbean losing dispositions in this trade war, the Go Lean book details a series of community ethos, strategies, tactics, implementations and advocacies to foster the best practices to mitigate further brain drain for the Caribbean region:

Community Ethos – Deferred Gratification	Page 21
Community Ethos – Economic Systems Influence Choices & Incentives	Page 21
Community Ethos – Job Multiplier	Page 22
Community Ethos – Anti-Bullying and Mitigation	Page 23
Community Ethos – Minority Equalization	Page 24
Community Ethos – Return on Investments	Page 24
Community Ethos – Ways to Impact the Future	Page 27
Community Ethos – Ways to Foster Genius	Page 26
Community Ethos – Ways to Help Entrepreneurship	Page 28
Community Ethos – Promote Intellectual Property	Page 29
Community Ethos – Ways to Impact Research & Development	Page 30
Community Ethos – Ways to Close the Digital Divide	Page 31
Community Ethos – Ways to Impact the Greater Good	Page 37
Anecdote – Valedictorian and Caribbean Diaspora Member	Page 38
Strategy – Customers – Citizens, Business Community & Diaspora	Page 47
Strategy – Meeting Region’s Needs Today, Preparing For Future	Page 58
Tactical – Separation of Powers – Patent, Standards, & Copyrights	Page 78
Tactical – Separation of Powers – Education Department	Page 85
Implementation – Assemble all Super-Regional Governing Entities	Page 96
Implementation – Trends in Implementing Data Centers	Page 106
Implementation – Ways to Deliver	Page 109
Implementation – Better Manage Debt – Better Student Loans Dynamics	Page 114
Planning – Ways to Improve Trade	Page 128
Planning – Ways to Make the Caribbean Better	Page 131
Advocacy – Ways to Grow the Economy	Page 151
Advocacy – Ways to Create Jobs	Page 152
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Education	Page 159
Advocacy – Ways to Impact Student Loans – Forgivable Provisions	Page 160
Advocacy – Ways to Foster Empowering Immigration – STEM Professionals	Page 174
Advocacy – Ways to Foster Technology	Page 197
Advocacy – Ways to Impact the Diaspora	Page 217

Now is the time for all of the Caribbean, the people and governing (education) institutions, to lean-in for the elevations described in the book Go Lean … Caribbean. This is a big deal for the region. This roadmap is not just a plan; it is also the delivery of the hopes and dreams of generations of Caribbean residents to finally assuage the brain drain.

The region needs the deliveries, described in the Go Lean roadmap. Otherwise, we have no hope to incite and retain our young people, especially those with STEM skill-sets. As a region, we would be condemned to a future of the status quo, or worse, simply “fattening frogs for snakes”. This roadmap therefore is vital in the quest to make the Caribbean a better place to live, work, learn and play.

Download the book Go Lean … Caribbean – now!

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British public sector workers strike over ‘poverty pay’

Posted on July 10, 2014 in Government, Planning, Social

Go Lean Commentary

The grass is not greener on the other side.

Go from being a big fish in small pond, to small fish in big pond.

These expressions are relevant in considering the fate of so many Caribbean Diaspora that had fled their Caribbean homelands over the past decades to take residence in Great Britain. Many of them sought refuge as career civil servants; (one reason ^[a] was the acute racism and intolerance encountered in private enterprises). These ones are faced with the harsh reality that pay scales in the public sector have not kept pace with inflation; they are now at poverty level. See the news article here:

By: Tess Little (Editing by Stephen Addison)

LONDON (Reuters) – Hundreds of thousands of public sector workers including teachers, council workers and firefighters staged a 24-hour pay strike on Thursday in a stoppage that has prompted Prime Minister David Cameron to pledge a crackdown on union powers.

Protesters marched through the streets of many of Britain’s main cities in one of the biggest co-ordinated labour stoppages for three years.

Denouncing what they called “poverty pay,” they demanded an end to restrictions on wage rises that have been imposed by the government over the past four years in an effort to help reduce Britain’s huge budget deficit.

In London, demonstrators marched towards Trafalgar Square at midday, chanting “Low pay, no way, no slave labour” to the beat of a drum. A giant pair of inflatable scissors, carried by members of the National Union of Teachers (NUT), read “Education cuts never heal.”

Firefighter Simon Amos, 47, marched wearing his uniform behind a flashing fire engine parading members of the Fire Brigades Union (FBU). “The government [is] making us pay more for our pension for it to be worth the same, and making us work longer,” he said.

The biggest public sector union involved, Unison, said early reports showed the strike had led to 3,225 school closures with more than 1,000 others partially closed.

Refuse collectors, school support staff, cleaners, street sweepers, care workers, nursery assistants and social workers were joining the strike, it added.

Hot spots, it said, included the North East, Wales and East Midlands where most council offices had closed, while more than 60 picket lines have closed most services in Newcastle.

“It is a massive decision by local government and school support workers to sacrifice a day’s pay by going on strike, but today they are saying enough is enough,” said Unison General Secretary, Dave Prentis in a statement.

Britain’s coalition government has enforced a policy of pay restraint for public sector workers since coming to power in 2010, imposing a pay freeze until 2012 and then a one percent pay rise cap, resulting in a fall in income in real terms [compared to inflation].

The Cabinet Office played down the impact of the strike, saying that most schools in England and Wales were open and that fire services were operating throughout the country.

On Wednesday, Cameron told parliament he planned to limit unions’ powers to call strikes.

“How can it possibly be right for our children’s education to be disrupted by trade unions acting in this way” he said.

Tough new laws would be proposed in the Conservative manifesto for next year’s general election, he added.

These would include the introduction of a minimum threshold in the number of union members who need to take part in a strike ballot for it to be legal.

The manifesto could also back the introduction of a time limit on how long a vote in favour of industrial action would remain valid.

The NUT mandate for Thursday’s strike, for example, came from a 2012 strike ballot based on a turnout of just 27 percent, Cameron said.

The issue of minimum voting thresholds last arose three months ago when a strike by London Underground train drivers caused huge disruption in the capital, prompting Mayor Boris Johnson to demand that at least half of a union’s members should vote in favour for a strike to go ahead.
Source: Reuters News Service; retrieved 07/10/2014 from: http://news.yahoo.com/public-sector-workers-strike-over-poverty-pay-105040672.html

Frankly, the Caribbean Diaspora employed in the British public sector can now do better at home … in the Caribbean.

This is the assertion of the book Go Lean…Caribbean. That once the proposed empowerments are put in place, the Caribbean Diaspora should consider repatriating to their ancestral homelands.

Unfortunately for the Caribbean, this societal abandonment has continued, since the early days of the “Windrush Generation”^[a] right up to now. In a recent blog post, this commentary related analysis by the Inter-American Development Bank that the Caribbean endures a brain drain of 70% among the college educated population; (https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=1433).

Change has now come to the Caribbean.

The book Go Lean…Caribbean serves as a roadmap for the introduction and implementation of the technocratic Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU). This roadmap will spearhead the elevation of Caribbean society. The prime directives of the CU are presented as the following 3 statements:

Optimization of the economic engines in order to grow the regional economy & create 2.2 million new jobs at home.
Establishment of a security apparatus to protect the resultant economic engines.
Improve Caribbean governance to support these engines.

The book posits that the improved conditions projected over the 5 years of the roadmap will neutralize the impetus for Caribbean citizens to flee, identified as “push and pull” factors. This point is stressed early in the book (Page 13) in the following pronouncements in the opening Declaration of Interdependence:

xix. Whereas our legacy in recent times is one of societal abandonment, it is imperative that incentives and encouragement be put in place to first dissuade the human flight, and then entice and welcome the return of our Diaspora back to our shores. This repatriation should be effected with the appropriate guards so as not to imperil the lives and securities of the repatriated citizens or the communities they inhabit. The right of repatriation is to be extended to any natural born citizens despite any previous naturalization to foreign sovereignties.

xx. Whereas the results of our decades of migration created a vibrant Diaspora in foreign lands, the Federation must organize interactions with this population into structured markets. Thus allowing foreign consumption of domestic products, services and media, which is a positive trade impact. These economic activities must not be exploited by others’ profiteering but rather harnessed by Federation resources for efficient repatriations.

This foregoing article highlights other issues that have been prominently addressed in the Go Lean book, namely that of the Civil Service and Labor Relations. There is the need for a professional staff in the Federal Civil Service. They require marketable benefits and compensation. There is also a role for Labor Unions to play in the elevation of Caribbean society. The Go Lean roadmap envisions an inclusionary attitude towards unions. The Go Lean community ethos is that of being partners with unions, not competitors. The book features specific tools and techniques that can enhance management-labor relationships.

These issues constitute heavy-lifting for the regional administration of the Caribbean:

fostering best practices for federal civil service and labor unions,
minimizing the brain drain, and
facilitating repatriation to the homeland.

These issues cannot be glossed over or handled lightly; this is why the Go Lean book contains 370 pages of finite details for managing change in the region. The book contains the following sample of community ethos, strategies, tactics, implementations and advocacies to impact the Caribbean homeland:

Community Ethos – Economic Systems Influence Choices & Incentives	Page 21
Community Ethos – The Consequences of Choices Lie in the Future	Page 21
Community Ethos – Job Multiplier	Page 22
Community Ethos – Lean Operations	Page 24
Community Ethos – Return on Investments	Page 24
Community Ethos – Ways to Impact the Future	Page 26
Community Ethos – Ways to Improve Negotiations	Page 32
Strategy – Competition – Remain home –vs- Emigrate	Page 49
Strategy – Agents of Change – Aging Diaspora	Page 57
Tactical – Separation of Powers – Versus Member-States Governments	Page 71
Implementation – Year 1 / Assemble Phase – Establish Civil Service	Page 96
Implementation – Ways to Deliver	Page 109
Implementation – Trade Mission Objectives	Page 116
Implementation – Reasons to Repatriate	Page 118
Anecdote – Experiences of a Repatriated Resident	Page 126
Planning – 10 Big Ideas for the Caribbean Region	Page 127
Advocacy – Ways to Create Jobs	Page 152
Advocacy – Ways to Impact Labor Unions	Page 164
Advocacy – Ways to Manage Federal Civil Service	Page 173
Anecdote – Experiences of Diaspora Member Living Abroad	Page 216
Advocacy – Ways to Impact the Diaspora	Page 217

The Go Lean roadmap has simple motives: fix the problems in the homeland to make the Caribbean a better place to live, work, learn and play. There should be no need to go abroad and try to foster an existence in a foreign land. So for those of Caribbean heritage working in the British Civil Service, we hear your pleas. Our response: Come home; come in from the cold.

Now is the time for all of the Caribbean, the people residing in the homeland and those of the Diaspora, to lean-in for the empowerments described in the book Go Lean … Caribbean. This Big Idea for the region is a dramatic change; one that is overdue. The policies & practices of the past have failed Caribbean society. Too many people left, yet have little to show for it.

Caribbean music icon Bob Marley advocated this same charter for the Caribbean Diaspora. He sang to “come in from the cold” in the opening song of his last album Uprisings in 1980. How “spot-on’ were his words in the following music/video:

Download the free e-Book of Go Lean … Caribbean – now!

———————

Appendix – Cited Reference
a: “There was plenty of work in post-war Britain and industries such as British Rail, the National Health Service and public transport recruited almost exclusively from Jamaica and Barbados”. Retrieved July 10, 2014 from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_African-Caribbean_people#The_.22Windrush_generation.22

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Obama’s Plans for $3.7 Billion Immigration Crisis Funds

Posted on July 9, 2014 in Economics, Industries

Go Lean Commentary

If only we were ready now!

$3.7 Billion in new spending in communities that really do not want the activity.

This, according to the below article, is the ground situation regarding the current immigration crisis on the US-Mexico border with children from Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras. The US government, Obama Administration, is requesting additional funding from Congress of $3.7 Billion to better interdict and respond during this crisis. The biggest part of the expense will be the detention functionality for the apprehended trustees.

This is a crisis … and this crisis is a terrible thing to waste!

By: Mary Bruce

Detainees sleep and watch television in a holding cell where hundreds of mostly Central American immigrant children are being processed and held at the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Nogales Placement Center on June 18, 2014, in Nogales, Arizona. Ross D. Franklin-Pool/Getty Images

President Obama today is requesting $3.7 billion to cope with the humanitarian crisis on the border and the spike in illegal crossings by unaccompanied minors from Central America.

Roughly half of the funding would go to the Department of Health and Human Services to provide care for the surge of children crossing the border, including additional beds.

The rest would be split between several departments to tackle the issue on both sides of the border, including $1.6 billion to the Departments of Homeland Security and Justice to boost law enforcement at the Southwest border and pay for additional immigration judge teams, among other things, and $300 million to the State Department to tackle the root causes of this crisis and to send a clear message to these countries not to send children illegally to the U.S.

Today’s funding request is separate from policy changes that the administration is also seeking to speed up the deportation of the children, most of whom are from Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras. The White House sent a letter to Congressional leadership last week requesting the legal changes to make it easier to send them home.

According to a White House official, greater administrative authority as well as the additional resources will help make it more efficient and expeditious to process and return the children.

What remains unclear is how much faster this additional funding would make the process to send children back to their home countries. White House officials today declined to speculate on such timing, but the administration has said that most of the unaccompanied minors will likely be “sent home.”

“Based on what we know about these cases, it is unlikely that most of these kids will qualify for humanitarian relief. And what that means is it means that they will not have a legal basis for remaining in this country and will be returned,” White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said Monday.

The White House has yet to say how many of the roughly 52,000 children that have been apprehended this year have been sent back to Central America. Today, officials offered only the total figure, including adults. So far this year, Immigration and Customs Enforcement has removed almost 233,000, that includes over 87,000 to Central American countries.

Here’s a detailed look at some of the ways the president wants to spend $3.7 billion to deal with the influx of unaccompanied minors, according to the White House.

$364 MILLION:

To pay for operational costs of responding to the significant rise in apprehensions of unaccompanied children and families, including overtime and temporary duty costs for Border Patrol agents, contract services and facility costs to care for children while in CBP custody, and medical and transportation service arrangement.

$39.4 MILLION:

To increase air surveillance capabilities that would support 16,526 additional flight hours for border surveillance and 16 additional crews for unmanned aerial systems to improve detection and interdiction of illegal activity.

$109 MILLION:

To provide for immigration and customs enforcement efforts, including expanding the Border Enforcement Security Task Force program, doubling the size of vetted units in El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras, and expanding investigatory activities by ICE Homeland Security Investigations.

$879 MILLION:

To pay for detention and removal of apprehended undocumented adults traveling with children, expansion of alternatives to detention programs for these individuals, and additional prosecution capacity for adults with children who cross the border unlawfully.

$45.4 MILLION:

To hire approximately 40 additional immigration judge teams, including those anticipated to be hired on a temporary basis. This funding would also expand courtroom capacity including additional video conferencing and other equipment in support of the additional immigration judge teams. These additional resources, when combined with the FY 2015 Budget request for 35 additional teams, would provide sufficient capacity to process an additional 55,000 to 75,000 cases annually.
ABC News Online News Video Source (Retrieved 07/08/2014) – http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2014/07/obamas-plans-for-3-7-billion-immigration-crisis-funds/

ABC News | ABC Sports News

The overriding theme of the foregoing news article is the need for professional detention capabilities. Within this crisis, the publishers of the book Go Lean…Caribbean see opportunities for commerce.

The book posits that the region must prepare its own security apparatus for its own security needs. But while we are building facilities (prisons, jails, detention centers, etc) for our own needs, we can employ the strategy of over-building and insourcing for other jurisdictions. Had we been ready now, with this Go Lean plan, we would have been able to embrace the opportunities presented by this Central American Children Crisis. This point is pronounced early in the book with the Declaration of Interdependence (Page 12) that claims:

x. Whereas we are surrounded and allied to nations of larger proportions in land mass, populations, and treasuries, elements in their societies may have ill-intent in their pursuits, at the expense of the safety and security of our citizens. We must therefore appoint “new guards” to ensure our public safety and threats against our society, both domestic and foreign. The Federation must employ the latest advances and best practices of criminology and penology to assuage continuous threats against public safety. The Federation must allow for facilitations of detention for convicted felons of federal crimes, and should over-build prisons to house trustees from other jurisdictions.

xvi. Whereas security of our homeland is inextricably linked to prosperity of the homeland, the economic and security interest of the region needs to be aligned under the same governance. Since economic crimes … can imperil the functioning of the wheels of commerce for all the citizenry, the accedence of this Federation must equip the security apparatus with the tools and techniques for predictive and proactive interdictions.

The Go Lean roadmap facilitates the introduction and implementation of the technocratic Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU). With 2 American territories in the Caribbean (Puerto Rico & the US Virgin Islands), it would be a simple proposal to Washington to offer to house these Central American Children in a Caribbean detention center, until some disposition is finalized regarding their individual cases. Then portions of that $3.7 Billion could be earned here, in the Caribbean.

The book asserts that the CU can copy the model of the small Pacific island country of Nauru (Page 290). As of July 2013 the detention center there was holding 545 asylum seekers on behalf of Australia … for a fee, assuaging an immigration crisis for Australia.

In addition to government spending, there will be the bonus of private spending from the visitors and family members of the detainees.

Just like that: Commerce!

This is the goal of Go Lean…Caribbean, to confederate under a unified entity made up of all 30 Caribbean member-states. Then provide homeland security for “our neighborhood”, contending with man-made and natural threats. The CU security goal is for public safety! The CU is set to optimize Caribbean society through a number of missions. The Go Lean roadmap has 3 prime directives:

Optimization of the economic engines in order to grow the regional economy to $800 Billion & create 2.2 million new jobs.
Establishment of a security apparatus to protect the resultant economic engines.
Improve Caribbean governance to support these engines.

In recent blog submissions, this commentary highlighted the security provisions that must be enacted to improve homeland security, as soon as possible:

https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=1554	Status of Forces Agreement = Security Pact
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=1076	References to the Caribbean Regional Security System

If only those provisions were in place already!

We console with the communities dealing with this crisis; already there have been protests from townspeople where the existing American detention facilities are located. We also console with the refugees fleeing the crime, violence and despair in their homeland; this Go Lean roadmap is the Caribbean’s aspiration to mitigate against a similar Failed-State status (Page 134).

Underlying to the prime directive of elevating the economics, security and governing engines of the Caribbean is the desire to make the Caribbean homeland, a better place to live, work and play (Page 131) and to impact the Greater Good (Page 37) because “the needs of the many should outweigh the needs of the few”.

Download the free e-Book of Go Lean … Caribbean – now!

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Blue is the New Green

Posted on July 7, 2014 in Economics, Government, Locations

Go Lean Commentary

First we said to “Go Green!”

Now we are saying to “Go Blue”, because Blue is the new Green. While ‘Green’ is indicative for all-things-environmental, ‘Blue’ refers specifically to Water.

There is money in Green; there is money in Blue too! The references to Blue waters apply equally to fresh water and seawater. When we consider all the waterscapes in the Caribbean, (1,063,000 square-miles of the Caribbean seas and thousands of islands in the archipelago – The Bahamas has over 700 alone), we realize how much opportunity exists.

This is the time to be proactive; and to facilitate the intersection of preparation and opportunity. (This is one definition of luck. This is how to create one’s own luck).

Considering all the opportunities, how can the Caribbean prepare its economic engines to harvest all the fruitage from these Blue market conditions? This is the theme of the book Go Lean…Caribbean, that the world is struggling to contend with monumental changes related to technology, globalization and most importantly Climate Change.

Early in the book, the pressing need to be aware and to adapt to Climate Change is pronounced in the Declaration of Interdependence (Page 11), with these words:

i. Whereas the earth’s climate has undeniably changed resulting in more severe tropical weather storms, it is necessary to prepare to insure the safety and security of life, property and systems of commerce in our geographical region. As nature recognizes no borders in the target of its destruction, we also must set aside border considerations in the preparation and response to these weather challenges.

The Caribbean needs Blue Technology solutions to sustain our own lives, liberties and systems of commerce. But the Go Lean book posits that we cannot just consume, we must also create, produce, and foster. So we must foster industrial solutions for the rest of the world. This subsequent magazine-article-summary highlights the progression in this new Blue Technology industry-space in these areas:
Sourcing
Treating
Storing
Conserving
Keeping it Clean
————-

VIDEO – The Blue Economy – https://youtu.be/7NqhVbCtqNk

Published on Jul 3, 2012 – The oceans have long been the centre of economic activity. People have been living near the sea, feeding themselves by fishing and making their livelihoods on the coast for thousands of years. The challenge today is harnessing the potential of this Blue Economy.

Category:

News & Politics

License: Standard YouTube License

————-

Excerpts of Article by: Adam Bluestein

Forget for a moment about carbon emissions. The world is facing a more immediate crisis — it is running out of clean water. The prospect of widespread shortages is creating a new kind of new economy. Featured here are a number of entrepreneurial firms who are ahead of the curve, finding opportunity in the largest emerging market the world has seen in some time.

Analysts estimate that the world will need to invest as much as $1 trillion a year on [water] conservation technologies, infrastructure, and sanitation to meet demand through 2030. As in the past, most of the large capital-intensive projects will be done by the usual multinational corporations and engineering firms. But the extent of the problem and the demand for new technology to address it present — pardon the metaphor — a kind of perfect storm for entrepreneurs. “Small companies with intellectual property, significant know-how, and a product that’s scalable can stake out a niche below the radar of the large companies,” says Laura Shenkar, a water expert and consultant in San Francisco. “This is an opportunity that will generate Googles.”

There are a number of business roles that emerge from seizing the opportunities to develop solutions to water challenges:

Sourcing – Increasing the Supply

The well-documented experience around the world is that poverty comes from inadequate access to fundamental resources, like water. To assuage this threat, there are solutions in place now to deliver added fresh water by many means: irrigation canals, pipelines and tanker trucks/tanker ships (i.e. tanker ships between France and Algeria; Turkey and Israel). An emerging solution operated in the Middle East and India is small-scale barge-based desalination systems. These systems play an important role in increasing the supply of freshwater, especially after a natural disaster (storm or earthquake) when normal infrastructure may be crippled.

In general, desalination is an expensive option. Desalination, of course, is well-and-good for communities close to the ocean/seas and that can afford relatively expensive water. For everyone else, exploring inland pumping solutions is essential. An innovation comes from Deerfield Beach, Florida-based company Moving Water Industries. They produce SolarPedalFlo, a solar and pedal-powered pump that can singly provide filtered and chlorinated water for thousands of people every day.

Treating It

As the gold standard of disinfection for more than 100 years, chlorine kills bacteria, viruses, and other pathogens, and it has played a key role in eliminating diseases such as typhoid and cholera in the U.S. Chlorine’s benefits in water are twofold: it not only disinfects but also remains at a residual level in the water, preventing reinfection by viruses or bacteria during transport, storage, and distribution.

Water treatment is just a basic fact. While moving water is very power intensive, a huge energy user that it doesn’t make sense to continue to treat it one place, pump it, live with “losses and degradation”, and move it someplace else to dispose of it. This is depicted with a swimming pool. One would not fill it up and dump it out every time it is used. This defies logic.

But safety and security issues abound with Chlorine solutions, as it is a hazardous material to transport. An emerging solution is a compact generator, by MIOX, an Albuquerque, New Mexico-based outfit founded in 1994. Their equipment allows water treatment facilities to produce liquid chlorine on site. This solution uses only water, salt, and electricity, thus eliminating the need to store or transport hazardous chemicals.

In a developing country, the ability to treat one’s own water at home can be a matter of life and death. Those with limited means often purify water by boiling it or mixing it with iodine tablets. Those who can afford it use home water-purification systems. One of the companies capitalizing on demand for such systems is Eureka Forbes, India’s largest manufacturer of home water-purification systems. They have profited from their effort to make home water-purification systems much more affordable.

Storing It

It’s nice to imagine that water flows magically from a pristine reservoir or spring to your home faucet, but that’s simply not the case. As we have seen, it is disinfected and pumped along through a sprawling network of water mains and pipes. The U.S. water network (including Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands), much of it built in the 1950s and ’60s, will require some $277 billion worth of construction, upgrades, and replacement in the next 20 years, according to EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) estimates. With scarcity driving water agencies to fix leaks — by some estimates, about six billion gallons per day in the U.S. are lost through literal cracks in the system — companies making high-tech metering and leak-detection technologies are doing well for themselves.

Water Storage Tanks – After being treated, drinking water can spend as long as 100 days in the distribution system before reaching an end user. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, but when water sits in a tank too long, it begins to stagnate and settle into layers of different temperatures, as in a lake. In warmer layers at the top, the disinfectants used in treatment are burned off, which increases the potential for contamination. Even when the water is being used, poor tank design can create an uneven distribution of disinfectant and encourage uneven aging, allowing water at the bottom of a tank to be replenished more quickly than water at the top.

The traditional solution is to dump more disinfecting chemicals into the holding system, leading to the formation of chemical byproducts. Another solution is to use energy-intensive “operational cycling” – basically pumping moving water around from tank to tank.

An energy-efficient, inexpensive, and elegant solution is called the Lily Impeller (by San Rafael, California-based PAX Water Technologies, founded in 2006). It’s a spiral propeller that’s installed on the bottom of a storage tank; it can mix up to seven million gallons of water while drawing the same amount of energy as three 100-watt light bulbs.

Another solution is a floating solar-powered impeller, which could improve surface water to be treated for drinking or even provide basic wastewater remediation.

Conserving It

A basic example of water conservation is a water recycling system that would take used water from the bathroom sink, disinfect it, and reroute it to the toilet tank for flushing.

One option: The AQUS System uses standard plumbing parts and can be installed by a professional plumber in about two hours. Priced at $395 (before rebates), it can save up to 6,000 gallons of water a year in a two-person household.

Another option: water-free urinals – biodegradable liquid with a specific gravity lighter than water.

Utilities have found that offering customers rebates for things such as low-flow showerheads and toilets and efficient front-loading clothes washers has been a reliable and cost-effective way to curb water use, and the cost of energy to supply and treat water.

A final option: WeatherTRAK irrigation controllers – a (software-based) system that uses live weather data, rather than preset timers, to tell sprinklers when and how much to water crops, lawns, and commercial landscapes.

Keeping It Clean

Though drought is one of the more obvious consequences of Climate Change, water experts are equally worried about the problems caused by extreme storms and flooding that many, if not most, scientists believe are another consequence of global warming. Storm-water runoff has become a concern for its effect on surface and ground water, as well as the additional burden that it puts on already creaky wastewater treatment facilities.

One solution: Scottsdale, Arizona-based AbTech Industries, first used their Smart Sponges — made from a synthetic polymer — in 1997 to clean up oil spills from tankers at sea. In 1999, when they turned their attention to storm water, most regulation was focused on runoff from new construction. But billions of gallons of rain that come down on the roads and go into our flood-control devices could be contaminated on the way through. This company molds their sponge material into different shapes that would fit into street-level storm drains and catch basins, soaking up oil and debris and letting clean water pass through. They also developed a way to coat the sponges with an antimicrobial agent so they would disinfect water as well. Their next iteration, add the ability to capture heavy metals, herbicides, and pesticides.

Another solution for eliminating challenging pollutants from water, compared to the traditional approach using mechanical filters or chemicals, researchers have experimented with using genetically modified organisms to degrade water pollutants. This new technological solution, being commercialized by companies like Overland Park, Kansas-based Microvi Biotech (founded in 2004), is literally eating these pollutants up. Their company verbiage explains: “The idea of using biotechnology — using concepts from nature — to clean up water has proven very appealing”.

—-

Adam Bluestein is a Burlington, Vermont-based freelance writer.
INC Magazine for Entrepreneurs (Article posted November 1 2008; retrieved 07/07/2014) – http://www.inc.com/magazine/20081101/blue-is-the-new-green.html

The topics in this commentary are relevant and familiar. Prudent water management is vital for Caribbean life, our public safety and commerce systems. Tourism continues to be the primary economic driver in the region. While the motivation behind the Caribbean “Lean” is to diversify the economy, prudence dictates that we do not undermine current successful tourism engines. Since tourists come to the region for sand, surf and sun, there must be a “quality” sentinel for Caribbean water works, waterscapes and water eco-systems.

This point is detailed in the book Go Lean…Caribbean, a roadmap for the introduction and implementation of the technocratic Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU). This roadmap has 3 prime directives:

Optimization of the economic engines in order to grow the regional economy.
Establishment of a security apparatus to protect the homeland and related economic engines.
Improve Caribbean governance to support these engines.

This Go Lean commentary delved into related subjects in these previous blogs:

https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=1516	Floods in Minnesota, Drought in California – Why Not Share?
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=915	Go ‘Green’… Caribbean

Water is not cheap. It is only free when it rains. The effort to source, treat, store, conserve and keep water clean takes a big investment on the part of community and governmental institutions. While we commend and applaud the regional executions thus far, the Go Lean book recognizing that there is more heavy-lifting to do. Help is on the way! The Go Lean roadmap details a series of community ethos, strategies, tactics, implementations and advocacies to foster the progress in the wide field of Blue technology. The following list applies:

Community Ethos – Lean Operations	Page 24
Community Ethos – Return on Investments	Page 24
Community Ethos – Cooperatives	Page 25
Community Ethos – Non-Government Organizations	Page 25
Community Ethos – Ways to Impact the Future	Page 26
Community Ethos – Impact the Greater Good	Page 37
Anecdote – Pipeline Transport – Strategies, Tactics & Implementations	Page 43
Strategy – Build and foster local economic engines	Page 45
Tactical – Fostering a Technocracy	Page 82
Tactical – Separation of Powers – Public Works	Page 82
Anecdote – “Lean” Environmental Quality Process	Page 93
Implementation – Ways to Develop Pipeline Industry	Page 107
Advocacy – Ways to Impact Public Works	Page 175
Advocacy – Ways to Foster Cooperatives	Page 176
Advocacy – Ways to Better Manage Natural Resources – Water Resources	Page 182
Advocacy – Ways to Foster Technology	Page 197
Advocacy – Ways to Impact Monopolies	Page 202
Advocacy – Ways to Impact Rural Living – Minimize Irrigation Downsides	Page 235
Appendix – Pipeline Maintenance Robots	Page 283

Water needs are undeniable.

Fulfilling those needs is a great target for lean, agile operations, perfect for the CU technocracy. While its “good to be green”, being “blue” is not an option we can choose to ignore, as the Caribbean is mostly made up of islands – surrounded by water.

Go Blue. Go Green. Go Lean.

Now is the time for all of the Caribbean, the people, entrepreneurs, institutions and governments, to lean-in for the optimizations and opportunities described in the book Go Lean … Caribbean.

Download the book Go Lean … Caribbean – now!

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Book Review: ‘Chasing Youth Culture and Getting It Right’

Posted on July 6, 2014 in Economics, Planning, Social

Go Lean Commentary

One mission of the book Go Lean…Caribbean is to sell the youth of the region on future prospects in the Caribbean.

The publishers of this book therefore must assume the role of Marketing Brand Managers.

Why is this important?

65% of Caribbean population is under the age of 30^[b][c]; 30% under the age of 15.^[c]
70% percent of Caribbean tertiary educated abandon their homeland and migrate to foreign shores.^[d]

The job description for the publishers of the Go Lean book therefore become part-Marketer, part-Demographer, part-Drum Major; much like the resource in this article here, Tina Wells, a writer, blogger and marketing firm founder:

By Alfred Edmond, Jr.

Black Enterprise Magazine – Book Review – April 19, 2011; Retrieved 07-06-2014 – http://www.blackenterprise.com/small-business/book-review-chasing-youth-culture-and-getting-it-right/

Subject: Buzz Marketing Group CEO Tina Wells urges you to market to teens, tweens and young adults not by age alone, but by tribe

In her new book Chasing Youth Culture and Getting It Right: How Your Business Can Profit by Tapping Today’s Most Powerful Trendsetters and Tastemakers, Buzz Marketing Group (Wiley, $16). Buzz Marketing CEO Tina Wells urges you to market to teens, tweens and young adults not by age alone, but by “tribe.” Citing her company’s research, as well as the success and failures of company’s marketing their goods and services to young consumers, Wells identifies four primary tribes:

The Wired Techie, driven by the need to be the first to discover, use and recommend new tech devices and gadgets.

The Conformist Yet Somewhat Paradoxical Preppy, traditional yet trendy buyers who are driven to want to fit in and belong.

The Always Mellow Alternative, who deviate from mainstream buying habits in order to pursue and support causes they believe in.

The Cutting Edge Independent, who deviate from the mainstream just for the sake of it.

While it’s difficult to accept that Wells’ tribes truly represent the totality of the thinking of tweens, teens and young adults, her book underscores an important reality of sales and marketing in the age of The Long Tail: Why The Future of Business is Selling Less of More ($10, Hyperion)–Chris Anderson’s must-read book about the changing nature of consumer choice and tastes in a largely digital marketplace: targeting consumers by age, race, gender and other traditional demographic markers alone is no longer enough for a business to be effective and, ultimately, profitable.

When it comes to marketing to youth, [Tina Wells] comes with unimpeachable bona fides. Already a 15-year veteran in the marketing business, she started Buzz Marketing as an 18-year-old, quickly carving out a niche and establishing a knack for understanding the trends, tastes and influences driving young consumers. Eventually graduating with honors with a B.A. in communication art from Hood College in 2002, and currently earning a marketing management degree at the Wharton School of Business, Wells creates marketing strategies for clients in the beauty, entertainment, fashion, financial and lifestyle sectors. Her clients have ranged from Sesame Street Workshop and PBS to American Eagle Outfitters and SonyBMG. Today, Wells, an expert contributor on entrepreneurship to BlackEnterprise.com, is well established as one of America’s most honored and celebrated young entrepreneurs.

So it’s no surprise that Wells brings and authoritative voice to Chasing Youth Culture and Getting It Right, confidently explaining the diverse world views of young consumers while smartly taking into account parents, as both their primary financial resource and the people with the most influence on their values. Wells also breezily illustrates, using vignettes of real young people who were subjects of her company’s survey, the impact of social media, globalization and the Great Recession on the “new millennials”. She also courageously weighs in on how young consumers feel about everything from environmentalism and corporate America to hypersexual content and America’s two-party political system.

In fact, sometimes Wells is over confident, making bold, sweeping overstatements about this or that aspect of the way young people think. For example, her description of “Global Mobiles” —young people who “live in a world without geographic or cultural boundaries” —is a stretch, conveniently overlooking the millions of young people, particularly low-income rural and urban Americans, who are hardly conscious of how people live on the other side of the tracks, much less the other side of the world. (Think Shawn Carter in the Brooklyn’s Marcy Projects before he became Jay-Z, the mogul and global citizen). While global mobiles absolutely exist, it’s too early to categorize them as a dominant factor in marketing.

The other major weakness of the book is [the] many examples of companies’ failed and/or successful efforts to market to youth culture; Wells ends up quickly glossing over most of them, causing them to lose some of their illustrative impact. I wish she’d used fewer examples, which would have allowed her to more effectively use those that remained as more enlightening and instructive case studies.

That said, if you’re a marketer or entrepreneur who wants to tap into the spending power of the generations of consumers who will drive the national and global economies over the next several decades (and come on, who doesn’t?), then you cannot afford to not read Chasing Youth Culture and Getting It Right. The book is both confirmation of Well’s formidable track record as an expert on the trends and tastes of young people, and powerful evidence of her prowess at using her immersion in her chosen area of expertise to peer around the corner into a future consumer marketplace, one that is evolving as unpredictably as it is quickly. Chasing Youth Culture and Getting It Right does solve all of the mysteries of marketing to young consumers, but it most certainly provides the most necessary, fascinating and useful clues.

——

Tina Wells is CEO of Buzz Marketing Group and is a columnist for BlackEnterprise.com [and Huffington Post]. Follow her on Twitter at @tinacwells and check out her new book, Chasing Youth Culture and Getting It Right, available now on amazon.com. (See Photo here).

——

About the Review Author:

Alfred Edmond Jr. is SVP/Editor-at-large of BLACK ENTERPRISE. He is a content leader, brand representative and expert resource for all media platforms under the BLACK ENTERPRISE brand, including the magazine, television shows, web site, social media and live networking events. From 2008 through 2010, Edmond was SVP/Editor-in-chief of BlackEnterprise.com, helping to lead the transition of BLACK ENTERPRISE from single-magazine publisher to digital-first multimedia company. From 1995 through 2008, Edmond was chief editor of BLACK ENTERPRISE magazine. He also hosts The Urban Business Roundtable on WVON-AM in Chicago and Money Matters, a syndicated radio feature of American Urban Radio Networks.

Follow him on Twitter: alfrededmondjr; Facebook: http://facebook.com/alfrededmondjr; BE Insider: http://beinsider.ning.com/profile/Alfred

VIDEO: Inc. Magazine Entrepreneurial Reference Source – http://videos.inc.com/index.php/kwidget/wid/1_5jek9891/uiconf_id/22577421

The book Go Lean…Caribbean, parallels Chasing Youth Culture as it serves as a roadmap for the introduction and implementation of the Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU) to elevate Caribbean society and culture. The idea of the CU must be marketed and sold to Caribbean stakeholders, young and old. The CU has 3 prime directives:

Optimization of the economic engines in order to grow the regional economy to $800 Billion and create 2.2 million new jobs.
Establishment of a security apparatus to protect the resultant economic engines.
Improve Caribbean governance to support these engines.

The Go Lean/CU effort is that of the legendary “Piped Piper”, in reverse to lead the children back home.

From the outset of the book, in the Introduction, the Go Lean roadmap (Page 10) posits that a target for the CU’s empowerments is Caribbean youth:

Our youth, the next generation, may not be inspired to participate in the future workings of their country; they may measure success only by their exodus from their Caribbean homelands.

Thusly, the CU must channel its inner “Tina Wells” to reach, engage, and sell to this youthful market.

There are other pronouncements that bear a direct reference to this foregoing article and source book, included here on Pages 11 & 13 of the Declaration of Interdependence:

vii. Whereas our landmass is finite and therefore limited as to population growth potential, it is imperative that prudent growth management be practiced so as to protect our legacy and still foster future opportunities for the hopes and fulfillment of a prosperous future for our children.

xix. Whereas our legacy in recent times is one of societal abandonment, it is imperative that incentives and encouragement be put in place to first dissuade the human flight, and then entice and welcome the return of our Diaspora back to our shores…

xxi. Whereas the preparation of our labor force can foster opportunities and dictate economic progress for current and future generations, the Federation must ensure that educational and job training opportunities are fully optimized for all residents of all member-states, with no partiality towards any gender or ethnic group. The Federation must recognize and facilitate excellence in many different fields of endeavor, including sciences, languages, arts, music and sports. This responsibility should be executed without incurring the risks of further human flight, as has been the past history.

The source book, Chasing Youth Culture and Getting It Right identifies the target demographic of millennials. This subset of youth population is identified as those born between the decades of the 1980’s and 2000’s^[a]. Why so special? While every age group has always contended with a generation gap (Depression-era, Baby Boomers, Generation X), this current millennial generation is at the frontline of the current Caribbean battles, of which the region is sorely losing. The issues/crises dumbfounding Caribbean governance include: the impact of social media, globalization and the Great Recession.

Go Lean…Caribbean trumpets a call to the world of technology to impact Caribbean life. In addition to economic and security empowerments, this roadmap advocates the launch of a social media site – www.myCaribbean.gov – for all Caribbean stakeholders (residents, Diaspora, young students, business entities, and even visitors). This can create a universe of over 160 million unique profiles. The Go Lean roadmap is to deliver many government services via electronic modes, including public safety fulfillments, like Reverse 911 and Emergency Alert messaging.

The following lists details from the book Go Lean…Caribbean that parallels the advocacies of the source book Chasing Youth Culture and Getting It Right:

Community Ethos – Lean Operations	Page 24
Community Ethos – Cooperatives	Page 25
Community Ethos – Ways to Impact the Future	Page 26
Community Ethos – Ways to Bridge the Digital Divide	Page 31
Community Ethos – Impact the Greater Good	Page 37
Strategy – Customers – Member-State Governments	Page 51
Strategy – Agents of Change – Technology	Page 57
Strategy – Agents of Change – Globalization	Page 57
Strategy – Agents of Change – Aging Diaspora	Page 57
Tactical – Fostering a Technocracy	Page 64
Tactical – Separation of Powers – Postal Union	Page 78
Anecdote – Turning Around the CARICOM governance	Page 92
Anecdote – “Lean” in Government	Page 93
Implementation – Ways to Pay for Change	Page 101
Implementation – Ways to Deliver	Page 109
Implementation – Ways to Impact Social Media	Page 111
Implementation – Reasons to Repatriate	Page 118
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Governance	Page 168
Advocacy – Ways to Better Manage the Social Contract	Page 170
Advocacy – Ways to Foster Technology	Page 197
Advocacy – Ways to Foster e-Commerce	Page 198
Advocacy – Ways to Impact the Diaspora	Page 217

The source book Chasing Youth Culture and Getting It Right is a great guidebook for developing participatory, agile institutions, enabled by advanced technology – a recipe for the CU. The Go Lean roadmap is also a great guidebook!

Now is the time for all of the Caribbean, the people (teenagers, adults & senior citizens) and governing institutions, to lean-in for the empowerments described in the book Go Lean…Caribbean. We cannot expect the youth to take their own lead; they must be led, but they will only respond to a certain style of leadership. Understanding that dynamic is the heavy-lifting involved in impacting change in the Caribbean region.

This is an art and a science!

There will be costs to incur for this advocacy, yes, but there are a lot of benefits too. The benefits are far too alluring to ignore: dawn of a new economy and new opportunities to preserve Caribbean culture for the Caribbean youth … and future generations.

🙂

Download the free e-Book of Go Lean … Caribbean – now!

———————

Appendix – Cited References:
a. Millennials (also known as the Millennial Generation or Generation Y) are the demographic cohort following Generation X. There are no precise dates when the generation starts and ends. Researchers and commentators use birth years ranging from the early 1980s to the early 2000s.
b. Example of Haiti; retrieved from http://populationaction.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/Haiti_Summary.pdf
c. Latin America & Caribbean Population 2005 retrieved from: http://www.eclac.cl/celade/noticias/documentosdetrabajo/6/48786/ Demographic_Trends_in_LAC_PAULO_SAAD_ED_12_7_09.pdf
d. Inter-American Bank report featured in CU Blog; retrieved from: https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=1433

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